The Price of a Wish
by lotzparrilla
Summary: When Regina and Emma are trapped inside a wish, the price they must pay appears grim, but the dreamlike Enchanted Forest will bring the two women closer and difficult feelings will arise. Slowburn. AU throughout 6B.
1. Prologue

**AN: After spending the last few years reading countless amazing SwanQueen fics, I have decided to write one of my own. This will be my first fic in years, and my first SwanQueen fic. I love creative writing, and hope this will be a fun way to improve. It will be a slowburn, and although there may be small hints of OQ and mentions of CS at the beginning, this is necessary for the storytelling. I am still gathering my ideas for this story and don't have a lot of free time to write, but I am excited to finally start a SwanQueen fic and hope some people will enjoy it!**

 **Here is a very short prologue for what is to come.**

* * *

 **"You should have left me here."**

 **"I could never have done that."**

The two women stood within the remains of the Dark Palace, their voices quiet and defeated, yet deafening within the stillness of their nightmarish reality.

"Storybrooke needs you, Emma. Your parents and Henry need you. You really are an idiot for not jumping into that portal when you had the chance-"

"I stayed for **you** , Regina." The blonde cut her off, anger momentary and unavoidable. "Don't tell me I should have left you, when you are the reason we're stuck here!"

The wounded expression which passed over Regina's face caused a pang of guilt within the younger woman, and she opened her mouth to speak, searching for the right words. "I didn't mean that."

"Yes you did."

"Regina."

"No. You're right. _I'm_ the idiot." A humourless laugh escaped Regina's lips. She had spent most of her time in Emma's wish trying to prove that none of it was real, and then when faced with her dead lover she forgot it all. "I wanted him to be real so badly."

Turning away from Emma, Regina stepped up to one of the open windows that looked out over the Enchanted Forest with the blonde's stare on her back.

"I know. I'm sorry." Emma replied.

"Why did you stay? That bean was our only ticket out of here."

Regina was no longer accusing Emma. The misdirected anger and frustration had left as quickly as it came and was replaced with confusion.

"You came to save me, Regina. Even if you hadn't, I still would have stayed. You're my friend. It's what friends do."

Considering their rocky beginning, Regina was quickly becoming Emma's closest friend; a person she trusted as much as her parents, Henry, Killian. There were parts of her mind she knew she could share with Regina that the thought of sharing with the pirate made her feel uneasy. She avoided thinking too much into it.

"Most friends probably don't find themselves in situations where they have to risk their life for the other, or get trapped in crazy dreamlands together, but I guess that shows how far we've come from wanting to make each other's lives as miserable as possible…"

Emma was rambling now. In any normal situation that would get on Regina's last nerve, but here, stuck in the crumbling palace with their fake son still as a statue just out of her sight, posed to send a dagger through her heart, she was thankful for it.

 **"Thank you, Miss Swan."**


	2. Chapter One

**AN: I wasn't able to write for a few days due to my friends visiting me, but this weekend I finished the first chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it! Lots to come. :)**

 **Chapter One**

 **The previous day…**

One jump, one small step forward and Emma would have been reunited with her son, her parents. It had been so tempting. The bright, green, swirling hole in the ground was their only way out. They had joined hands, as they had a few times in the past when they were about to enter the unknown. The danger seemed less threatening when facing it together; the Savior and The Evil Queen, an unlikely yet formidable team.

The arrow which almost struck the pair was the first sign that they weren't going to make it. Emma's desperation to return home tempted her to lean forward and fall into the portal, away from their attacker. The moment she heard Robin's voice, she knew they would not be returning home that day. Regina was already moving towards the man, away from their route home and as much as Emma tried to remind her that he wasn't real, just as Regina had done for her earlier, she wasn't as successful. Moments passed, each second agonisingly slow and Emma was faced with a difficult dilemma.

Stay with Regina, or leave her and return home.

Her eyes flickered between her two options, but it was no use; she had already made up her mind. There was never really any other option. She couldn't leave Regina behind.

Within seconds, there was not a trace of the portal. They were trapped, again.

Anger, fear, sorrow; Emma couldn't focus on any one emotion as they rushed through her. She couldn't focus at all with Regina inching closer to Robin who had his bow and arrow aimed at her chest. Only he wasn't Robin. Robin was dead and he was nothing more than a part of her wished reality, a memory.

"Regina..."

Emma was more cautious now that the portal was gone. There was no immediate escape and the only important thing to her was making sure Regina broke from whatever lovesick trance she was under.

"This isn't your Robin. I know you want to believe it's really him, but it's not."

She wasn't getting through at all. Tears were spilling down Regina's cheeks and the expression on her face was painful. One more step and Emma could see Robin was close to letting the arrow fly, moving his aim downwards towards her legs. He would not kill.

"Stop!"

A shudder ran through the blonde as a scene eerily similar to that of earlier in the day played out, only this time she wasn't waking from her dreamlike state, but trying to wake Regina. Stopping Robin from harming her.

Robin Hood wasn't the only paralysed form on the seafront. His arrow, still in the air as the sword had been a split second after Henry had thrown it, was also frozen.

Regina tensed and was no longer stepping forward, her gaze dropping from Robin's face to the arrow which was suspended in the air.

"Regina..." What could she say? Her friend had already lost Robin more than once, and now she would lose him again, real or not.

"Be quiet, Emma."

The sharp tone to the brunette's voice bit into Emma and she felt her irritation at losing their ticket home rise to the surface. She frowned, offended, and struggled to remain sensitive and understanding.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "but we just missed our trip back to Storybrooke." It was clear to her that Regina either no longer cared or was not listening. Perhaps both, but irritation and anger would not solve anything. The mother of their son had left their family to save her, and if she had not come Emma would undoubtedly still be under the influence of the wish. Now they were even.

" _Your move."_

Memories from past years were triggered in Emma Swan's mind, and as the two woman stood still, the saviour moving to stand beside her grieving friend, she thought back to a time when they were both trying to 'one up' the other. _I hurt you, you hurt me. Rinse. Repeat._ It was childish, she knew it now, but it was how they functioned, in the beginning. Fighting over their son, going to lengths where Regina was drawn to send her into an endless sleep. These days it was different. They no longer hurt each other; they saved each other. They no longer pushed each other away; they bonded, grew closer. Stronger. Stronger together. So much had changed and their journey was nowhere near through.

Emma watched as Regina brought a hand slowly upwards to caress Robin's face, emotion creeping onto her own.

The blonde lowered her head, feeling as though she was intruding on a moment that should be private, and so she reluctantly took a few steps backwards and sat down on an overturned tree trunk.

As she sat, purposely facing the opposite direction to Regina - for she couldn't bring herself to watch, even from afar – she pulled at the fur coat around her shoulders. Although she had been experimenting wearing a few more dresses and 'lady-like' garments, this was beyond any of that and the longer she wore it the more uncomfortable she felt. Her red jacket was her 'armour' and despite being reunited with her family and no longer feeling she needed it for the reason it was originally intended, it had been with her for so long and she couldn't pretend that she didn't miss it. Sometimes the dresses and new jackets she replaced her red one with, pushing the one item of clothing which held so many memories further down her closet, all felt fake. It felt as though she was putting on an act…which was ridiculous, right?

"I'm sorry."

Emma almost jumped out of her skin. Whilst deep in thought she hadn't noticed that Regina had joined her on the makeshift bench.

"Don't worry about it. We'll find another way home."

"I hope so." Regina sighed deeply, and Emma noticed tear tracks drying on her cheeks that hadn't been there before.

"We will. There is always another way," she replied.

"You had better be right, Miss Swan."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the sea foaming against the sand.

"Hey, Regina?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay…you know, with everything that just happened and, well…" She stumbled over her words and trailed off, tilting her head sideways towards the guarded woman.

"Full of eloquence, _Princess_ Emma."

The blonde didn't respond. She knew how Regina worked. After spending years getting to know the woman, befriending her, she knew that sarcasm was one of her many defensive walls. Regina was hurting, and rather than biting back an equally sarcastic reply, Emma's lips twitched upwards.

"Is something funny?" Regina's fiery brown eyes narrowed.

"No, no. It's just...this outfit. The strange way the Evil Queen's wish made me behave. It isn't me at all, is it?"

Emma decided not to mention the main reason for her smile. It seemed out of place and would definitely be taken the wrong way by the former Queen, but the blonde couldn't help but feel a rush of joy every time she thought of how far they had come in understanding one another, and this trip was proving quite thought provoking so far.

"Not at all. I hate to admit it, but I do miss that hideous red jacket of yours."

Emma smiled. "Yeah. Me too."

* * *

Robin looked the same, just the same. He felt the same, smelt the same. Regina couldn't get her head around how real he was. How real he seemed.

He wasn't her Robin Hood. Her Robin Hood was dead.

Regina repeated this fact in her head as she and Emma picked their way through the edge of the forest, denying herself the impulse to turn her head back when the blonde flicked a hand at the thief once they were hidden by trees and far enough away, reversing the spell she had cast.

"Don't worry, he's not going to follow us." When Emma received no reply, she continued, albeit hesitantly. "It will be okay Regina. Everything will work out okay in the end."

"Please don't try to soothe me as if I am an overly emotional teenager. I am fine."

"Yeah, sure. Just…follow me."

The brunette sighed. Emma meant well, but she was fairly useless with words when it came to comforting her over her former lover. Not that she needed the comfort. She appreciated what Emma was doing all the same. She didn't seem angry that they wouldn't be returning home that day, or – if the worst came to the worst – ever.

Regina had spent the majority of her time since Robin passed away trying to move on with her life. It was challenging and painful, but as time had passed and she focused on her family, it became easier. There were plenty of distractions and her efforts to move on had brought her closer with Emma. She valued the blonde's friendship. It was a friendship like none other she had experienced, and it really, truly made her happy.

"Do you know where you are taking us, or are we going for a nice stroll through the forest?" Despite her sarcastic tone, Regina managed a weak smile at the blonde as she turned her head to shoot her a dramatic eye roll.

Emma didn't have a chance to reply. The two women had reached a road passing through the forest and Regina felt herself pushed backwards behind a large tree. She opened her mouth to protest when Emma shushed her, hearing shouts from the distance and the thud of horses' hooves.

"We must keep looking! That witch could be anywhere." As the horses drew closer Regina could hear their words and silently thanked Emma for her quick thinking. The blonde was pressed against her front and the bark of the tree was rough and digging into her back through her jacket. Regina focused instead on the scent of Emma's shampoo, which was strong now the blonde locks, tied neatly into an eloquent plait, fell against her nose. It was a strange scent she couldn't place, and definitely not what she would expect Emma's hair to smell like – not that she had ever wondered about that – but it was _Princess_ Emma's shampoo. Surprisingly, she liked the smell. Much more than she liked the persona of Emma's the Evil Queen's wish had created for her. No, she much preferred her Emma…her friend. Emma Swan definitely wouldn't choose such a flowery scented shampoo.

"The entire royal family is missing. First the King and Queen and now Princess Emma and Prince Henry! She must have taken them as well."

The guards yelled to one another, reminding Regina where she was, and that they couldn't be seen, not by anyone. Especially not together after the dramatic events that had occurred in the grand hall of Snow and Charming's palace.

"Over this way! Let's go!"

Regina waited silently, listening as the shouts quietened not long after the guards disappeared into the thick of the forest.

The two women exchanged a look. A knowing look they had exchanged many times before, and with a wave of Regina's hand, they vanished in a cloud of purple smoke.

Reappearing in the same room where Emma had awoken from her dream; within The Evil Queen's Dark Palace, the two woman stepped apart from one another, regaining their personal space. Regina cleared her throat before speaking: "We will have to stay here until we can figure out another way home." She straightened her jacket, forcing herself to ignore the frozen form of their alternate universe son directly beside her.

"Can we figure out what to do with them first?" Emma gestured towards the bodies of her parents in the Wish World, clearly uncomfortable now the adrenaline of the day was crashing.

"Yes. Yes of course. Would you like me to…" Regina shook her head racking her brain for the best and fasted way to rid them of the eerie presence.

"Send them back to the Royal Palace. There will be a grand ceremony for them. I know it's not much, but it will turn the attention from us for a while," Emma suggested.

"Good thinking, Emma." Regina replied, and with a sharp inhale she flicked her hand towards the bodies, transporting them to the palace.

Once the smoke faded from the room, Regina returned her gaze to the co-parent of her son, nausea beginning to settle in the pit of her stomach. "And Henry? I know he's not real, but even so…"

Emma smiled understandingly and Regina was grateful for it.

"I can unfreeze him, but we shouldn't be seen. That might not end so well this time."

"I know where we can go." Regina replied, after a short pause, gesturing for Emma to follow.

The blonde wrapped her hand around the sword which was fated to kill her, pulling it from the air into her hold before following. Regina pretended not to notice how her hand trembled, understanding that feeling all too well.

Unlike the other rooms, the one Regina lead Emma to was tightly locked, with a unique key of it's own. It was sealed with blood magic.

"My private bedchamber." Regina explained as they walked through the entrance. "Yes, I had more than one." She continued on sight of Emma's raised eyebrow: "There are many rooms in this palace and it wasn't often I had friendly visitors. If I did they certainly weren't here for a room of their own." Without offering any further explanation Regina cleared her throat, the lump that had formed there was stubbornly refusing to shift. No amount of sarcastic quips could quell the uneasy feeling Regina felt from being inside this all too familiar space. It was a room she rarely visited during her reign as the Evil Queen. It held all her most sentimental possessions from her childhood and before she became Queen. The Evil Queen didn't care for such sentiments. It was Regina; the purest part of herself which she now embodied, who cared. Perhaps that was why her heart clenched tightly as she stepped towards the large mirror in the corner, waving her hand so their teenage son appeared in the one-way glass.

"Whenever you're ready, Emma."

* * *

The two mothers watched, mesmerised, as their son returned to life; as much life as an unreal copy of their child could possess. Emma Swan couldn't take her eyes off him. Her life in this reality may have felt more like a dream since she awoke, but the memories of the time she spent with Henry only grew stronger the more she watched his confusion; his anger; his sorrow. She missed the kid, and resisted temptation for the second time that day. The impulse to run from the room and embrace her son was almost overpowering her. She was certain Regina must feel the same.

Tearing her eyes from the mirror, unable to look upon her son's face any longer when she knew it wasn't really him, she chanced a glance at Regina. The sight she saw was painful, but one which held so much love.

"It's not our son. Well, he is, but he's not real." Emma could have slapped herself. She had no tact today.

Regina didn't reply, completely entranced by the sight of Henry.

"We'll get back to our son, Regina."

Emma could hardly bring herself to watch as Henry stormed from the palace, but this version of her son was not the same as the kid she'd been getting to know the past few years. The boy who had knocked on her door at ten years old and who was the truest believer. He was growing into a young man who made her so proud. To her this felt much like a realistic dream about someone you love, where they embody that person, but do not behave exactly the same. It was easier to separate the reality from fiction in this way, but Emma imagined for Regina it could be more difficult. Regina had grown up in the Enchanted Forest. She had probably known this version of their son in her own dreams. Her Prince.

"He's gone," Regina stated, her tone lacking in emotion.

"He'll be okay. Trust me. He's strong," Emma reassured her.

"Of course he is, Emma. He's our son." _There_ was the Regina she knew. Emma nodded, hiding her smile.

"Are you hungry?" the brunette asked, folding her arms as she turned to face Emma.

"Not really. I don't have much of an appetite." Was there any wonder, after the day she had endured?

"Well in that case, we should both get some rest. I doubt we will be able to stay here for long before your palace guards arrive making more of a mess than they already have."

"My parents defeated you years back, Regina. I expect many people have found this castle and helped themselves, not just the palace guards."

"Yes, well this is the one room no one can touch, and there's no need to defend the guards Emma, the life you lead here wasn't real, remember?"

Of course she remembered. How could she forget. Yet her mind seemed to be at war with itself. Each version of reality beginning to fight for dominance over the other.

* * *

Regina forced her legs into motion, moving towards the large bed and taking a seat. She ignored the many cupboards and drawers where she knew sentimental possessions would still remain, some of which she hadn't even brought to Storybrooke with her.

"If you wish to choose a bedchamber, I can cast a protection spell in case we have any unwelcome visitors during the night."

Emma nodded, seeming to ponder over the words in her head before speaking. "Would it not make more sense for us to stay in the same room? There are so many people searching for us, and if we had to make a quick exit it would be much easier if we were close by."

"Okay…" Regina nodded slowly, biting gently at her bottom lip in thought. "You can stay in here with me. Just please, don't touch anything."

"You know, I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor if you would prefer?" Emma suggested, her expression serious.

"Don't be ridiculous, Emma. You can share my bed with me. We are friends, are we not?"

"Of course." Emma ducked her head, but Regina caught the smirk she fought to hide.

A few moments later and the two women were no longer in their elaborate garments, but comfortable pyjamas – a nightdress in Regina's case – from home.

"Woah…at least give me some warning before you do that." Emma seemed stunned, but Regina merely shrugged, moving backwards on the bed to slip under the covers without another word.

She waited for the blonde to situate herself on the other side of the bed before turning out the lights, the bright moon subtly illuminating the room through the large window.

"Goodnight Emma. You had better not kick in your sleep."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Regina had no reply and Emma didn't continue; her words instilled uncomfortable thoughts in both women's minds. They were stuck in a dream, a wish. The only two pieces of reality within.

* * *

Emma wasn't sure how long it had taken for her to fall asleep. She couldn't remember much after she'd spoken words that had sent a sinking feeling straight to the pit of her stomach.

For a blissful moment as she woke, the blonde forgot where she was and that she wasn't at home in Storybrooke. The illusion was shattered when she heard a sharp intake of breath followed by a muffled sniffle coming from beside her. The day's events flooded back and she turned onto her side with panic in her eyes. Regina was crying?!

"Regina? Regina, are you okay?" Her frantic, whispered question was met with a short gasp, and although the room was dark Emma could hear the rustle of the sheets as the brunette rolled over, away from her.

"It's okay to be upset. After what you've been through today…it was tough for me, but for you. I can't imagine."

"No you can't."

The three words pained Emma, she didn't need to see Regina to know how devastated she was.

"You're right. I can't, but I am here for you. In any way I can be. You don't have to go through this alone. You're not alone."

The silence that ensued lasted long enough that Emma was almost convinced Regina had fallen back to sleep, but just as she was considering closing her eyes, there was another rustle and she could just about make out her friend, the moonlight shining against her dark hair and illuminating her face where she lay, closer to her.

"My son almost killed me today. I lost Robin Hood yet again…just when I was beginning to move on, and we are now trapped inside a wish. I thought when I separated myself from the Evil Queen I might find my happy ending. I was foolish to think such a thing."

"You weren't foolish. Regina, you are far from that. You're one of the strongest women I know." Emma watched as tears rolled down her friend's cheeks. Even those with the most strength had their breaking points.

"When he aimed that dagger at my heart and told me he would hurt me I thought it was the end. No matter what, in any realm or land existing, I could never harm my son."

"I know. Your love for Henry was what woke me."

Even in the darkness Emma could see Regina smile. The first real smile since Robin Hood had appeared on the beach by the portal, and her own anxiety melted away.

Love for a son was powerful enough to wake a saviour from her dream, but what could send two mothers home to their family?

"Oh Emma. It wasn't just my love for Henry that woke you, it was _our_ love for him. For our son."


End file.
